Dear Author: Pseudonymous and Anonymous Speech Issues

I’ve thought a lot about anonymous and pseudonymous speech over the years, and I have to admit that the outrage to Jane Litte’s outing herself as Jen Frederick has me scratching my head.

I’ve got a long history with pseudonymity, and I used a pseudonym long before I became a writer. Back in the 70s and early 80s, I used the pseudonym Harfesta online, partly because someone was already using Deirdre as their pseudonym (which frankly cheesed me because it’s my given name).

I’ve used pseudonyms in various places where it was the expectation, and I’ve used pseudonyms in publishing since not long after my start (but long before Google) simply because it was a contract requirement.

In 94-95 on alt.religion.scientology, I used an open pseudonym (Deeny, which was related to my AOL account name) as well as my real first name. I also used anonymized speech through the late anon.penet.fi (a two-way anon remailer) as well as outright anon speech, back in the days when you could push email through an anon gateway and have a reasonable expectation it’d be received on the other end.

I haven’t used truly anon speech since then.

Anonymous Speech: Peer vs. Non-Peer Relationships

But in most circles where there are pseudonymous or anonymous speakers, those speakers are generally peers, e.g., people on a web forum.

What’s fascinating about the romance community is that there are a number of people known full-time by pseudonyms, and people may have multiple pseudonyms operating in different segments of the romance community at the same time. Some of these are “open” pseudonyms, like Jennifer L. Armentrout’s J. Lynn (or, in science fiction, Harry Turtledove’s H.N. Turtletaub for his non-SF historicals). The open pseudonyms are typically needed because of bookstore computer systems—not wanting to cross the marketing streams, especially where sales are expected to differ significantly. That way, one bad book won’t tank both of your careers.

A number of people are known by closed pseudonyms too, though, and some are probably known by both open and closed at the same time. (One could argue, given that Jane Litte’s legal name was used in an article years back, this is true for her.)

But relationships with editors, well, we expect them to be known by their “real” names. So I’ve wondered if part of the backlash about Jane’s/Jen’s revelation is delayed backlash about Jane Litte having been a pseudonym in the first place.

I’m coming from the sf/f world, where a higher percentage of people seem to use their real names (though that may just be the apparency), and I’m just shaking my head at the irony of some of the comments over on The Passive Voice article linked in my last blog post on this topic: using a pseudonym to complain about pseudonymity per se would be funny if this weren’t such a serious topic.

To be clear, I’m not ignoring the ethical issues relating to disclosure or transparency. They are there, and some of them don’t make me happy.

Personally, I’m wondering why there’s a bigger reaction to there being a reviewer in author spaces than an industry journalist in author spaces. That seems the potentially larger conflict of interest.

Getting Back to Ellora’s Cave v. Dear Author for a Moment

I wish I could find the comment I am pretty sure I wrote (perhaps only in a dream; I’ve had a really tough time since the Germanwings airplane crash), responding to someone who’d contributed to DA’s legal fundraising. Essentially, some people have called into question that fundraising in light of being a successful romance author and having recently sold film rights.

To which I say the following:

She said she had $20,000 to contribute toward her defense. That may well have been entirely from the book sales and film rights for all you and I know.

I’ve sold film rights (to a proposed Lifetime movie about one aspect of my own life). Let’s put it this way: options are cheap. The real money is when the film is produced, and I don’t believe that’s happened yet.

Lawyers don’t necessarily make a lot of money, especially not lawyers for the state. I know two people who’ve passed the bar in recent years who are basically starving. It’s not a golden ticket.

I remember what happened: I was starting to write it as a comment on another blog, then thought: this would be better in a post. So I have the memory of typing it into a comment box. Add tiredness, and, well.

Just a brief note, from someone who’s been in romance fandom for decades (and an author for half a decade):

Pen names are NOT the issue. I use a pen name. My RWA chaptermates use pen names. Some have several pen names which they use for different marketing/subgenre needs. Look at the RITA and Golden Heart nominees from yesterday and I guarantee you pen names will outweigh real names by at least 5:1. They’re an understood, very open part of the industry and have been for decades. Even teenage me could tell you: Victoria Holt is Jean Plaidy is Phillipa Carr. Amanda Quick is Jayne Castle is Jayne Ann Krentz. Romance writing is not only generally mocked but can get you fired, or even get your kids taken away from you (the number of horrible ex-husbands who’ve tried to use an erotic romance writer’s work against them in court would really depress you).

The use of a second name on its own would not have caused such turmoil. I’m sure most of us knew or assumed that Jane ran DA under a pseudonym anyways. It’s the fact that Jen Frederick was introduced as a new person, not a new persona, that matters. Jen Frederick could go places where Jane could not (those invite-only author loops) — and, more significantly, Jane could put Jen’s books in front of thousands of readers. Literally thousands of readers, who trusted her to speak to them as a reader, and who were not told of Jane’s financial interest in the work. I know Jane says she tried to keep the two hats separate — but if she was trying, she did a damn poor job of it. The DBSA podcast featuring Jane’s co-writer (and one of Jen’s books in a prominent spot) really, really crossed a line, particularly since Sarah Wendell knew Jane and Jen were the same person.

We use pseudonyms to protect romance from outsiders: it really feels like Jane used a pseudonym against many of us here on the inside.

I agree with Olivia’s comment here (I have yet to read her blog post). I have zero problem with pen names; I use them myself. My very first editor in 2010 at EC was Jillian Bell. Being new then, I was surprised to discover that was a pen name for her. I quickly realized it was the norm for everyone in romance, not just authors.

I’ve known Jane Litte was a pseudonym for her “real” name since 2011 when she was my editor for Berkley’s Agony/Ecstasy and I had to sign a contract with her. Same with every other author and editor I’ve signed contracts with, just as they know my my “real” name. These are what you called closed/open secrets, I think.

I put “real” name in quotation marks because I am also “really” Shoshanna Evers in every sense of the word, including legally (DBA). We all use pen names. But like Olivia said, it’s meant to keep a privacy barrier between us and the world, not between us within the community, so we can play a game of “Surprise! Gotcha!” when the lights come on at the end of the party and everyone removes their masks.

Oh hey, I’m also writing as Jezebel Lixxx now. And I cofounded and run SelfPubBookCovers.com (where almost all of our cover artists use pseudonyms as well). I publish and write as Shoshanna Evers. My husband calls me by my married name IRL, just as I call him “DH” online. That’s all already out there, but I’m just saving people time, as someone on #notchilled said 😉

Yes, I think part of the issue is that I’m not used to editors having pseudonyms, and pseudonyms being so normal in Romancelandia.

In SF/F, it seems more common for people to shift from some variant of their real name to a pseudonym only after they’ve gone several rounds with B&N’s ordering computers. (And lost, obviously.)

Also, in SF/F, a lot of people who aren’t writers (or artists/performers, etc.) are known by pseudonyms. Some of them only convention registration seems to know their legal name. I suspect that’s more common in SF/F than in romance.

I get that there’s a surprise within the community issue here. It’s just—the rules for pseudonyms are different, and I’m finding the differences fascinating.